Last night, I went to a fun party held by Jonny. There was some live music by people who knew what they were doing. When this part of the evening drew to a close, the floor was opened for anyone who felt like having a bash on an instrument or with their voice... towards the end of the night, it was just bad, bad karaoke. No one was even listening; most people had gone home. There were moments when the party could have come to a fitting end - Nathan and Fairlie's (The Steadfast Shepherd) impromptu mini-gig seemed like a great finale. But no, we needed to sing a few more terrible Powderfinger songs, and of course 'You Raise Me Up'. It was heaps of fun, but I felt a bit rotten when we finally went home.
This got me thinking about karaoke guilt. When I do karaoke, I'm usually left with a feeling, somewhat akin to committing a grave sin. Part of the reason is because I can never stop at just one song. It always feels natural to do several more, I suppose because nobody is leaping up to take the microphone from me. I think this feeling of seediness also comes from singing songs that are far beyond my (limited) range; knowing that I cannot sing something but doing it anyway, and being well aware that the "audience" are not enjoying it leads to a feeling of mild regret, along with the absence of humiliation (a feeling that should be present but isn't). Maybe it's all that, combined with the feeling you get when you stay up too late.
Does anyone else experience karaoke guilt? Or has anyone had any extra-bad karaoke moments?
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7 comments:
You should write a book. This is a western social phenomenon that must be explored.
Once my aunt and uncle dragged me to a nursing home to do karaoke for the residents, and I ended up butchering "The Rose" in front of 30 or 40 of them. Extra, EXTRA bad.
Once I did all three parts of 'Evie' (awesome Stevie Wright Oz Rock epic from the 1970s) when attending karaoke night at Montgomery's with Tracey. When I put my name down to do it, I honestly thought it was only going to be Part 1, but they just kept on coming. Even I was bored by the end of it!
Once my aunt and uncle dragged me to a nursing home to do karaoke for the residents, and I ended up butchering "The Rose" in front of 30 or 40 of them. Extra, EXTRA bad.
HA HA!! Oh man, I'm laughing loudly. 'The Rose'! That's awesome!
Having had a little bit too much experience of karaoke out in the field (aka the Beach Hotel on a Thursday night... a wretched hive of scum and villainy if ever there was one), I know exactly what you're talking about.
I have seen some terrible sights on the karaoke machine, including an out-of-tune version of 'Punk rocker with flowers in my hair' sung by two overweight, middle-aged women. I've also seen Lindsday (aka the Doctor from JJJ) rock the karaoke dance floor in Burnie, so I've seen some good stuff too.
Wow, 'The Rose'. What a song. I wouldn't be too ashamed of butchering that... but I would love to have been a fly on the wall at that nursing home!
1) Jonny tricked me into forming an ACDC covers band, about two days before his party. It royally sucked and I felt the same emotions you described.
2) While travelling I frequently end up with a bunch of tourists and a guitar. It is a law that Hotel California must be played.
I heard about the AC/DC covers... I think it was exactly the type of thing Jonny wanted.
OK, you guys, give me a break. I was like 15. It was not a moment I would like to repeat.
:p
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